Abstract

John Hugh Westcott was a leader in the revolution of the subject of automatic control that took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Appointed to a lectureship in the early 1950s, he rapidly created, and inspired, a group that successfully bridged the transition from classical to ‘modern’ control theory. He supported this activity via a large number of research grants garnered from industry by his persuasive advocacy of the benefits to be gained from modern developments. To encourage transfer of these developments to industry and elsewhere, he motivated and directed several large research projects in areas such as the cold rolling of steel and the control of the UK economy.